At least 5 killed in Nigeria suicide blast, according to source

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Nigeria (Wikipedia)

At least 5 killed in Nigeria suicide blast, according to source

Nigeria (Wikipedia)

JOS, Nigeria — A suicide bomber in Nigeria killed at least five people on Sunday in an attack on a church in the city of Kano, a local resident told CNN. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The incident happened in an area of northern Nigeria with a strong presence of Boko Haram militants.

Boko Haram, a hard-line Islamist movement, has attacked Christian churches in the past and abducted scores of schoolgirls last April.

The militant group says its aim is to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Nigeria, which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south.

The bomber self-detonated inside the St. Charles Catholic Church in Kano’s predominantly Christian Sabon Gari district, according to Kano resident Shade Sijuade.

Sabon Gari residents spilled onto the street to protest the attack, Sijuade said. It is not yet clear if the church was holding a service during the bombing.

Sijuade lives near the church, heard the explosion, and went to the scene, where she saw the casualties. She said a security officer told her that the suicide attacker was a female.